Parting Is Such Predictable Sorrow

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Nothing gets my embittered heart fluttering like speculating about next spring’s transfer possibilities.  Last season I correctly predicted that Lil’ Stevie Thomas, now a distant memory and the exclusive property of the IUPUI Panthers, would abscond with his pride and eligibility and leave for more obscure pastures.  Thomas, whose scholarship was reassigned to Drake's Josh Parker, headed back home to Indianapolis where playing time will flow like wine coolers at a UD soccer party. His transfer was easy to predict, with both Rob Lowery and London Warren in front of him on the depth chart his playing time would have been severely limited this upcoming season.  Throw in the fact that Brian Gregory owns the domain name juwanstaten.com, and it’s plain to see that not much would change for Thomas during his senior year. Stevie's decision shouldn’t have come as a surprise to many as there were rumors he considered leaving after his freshman season. As is the case with the vast majority of transfers, chances are it will be an equitable result for both parties.

Excluding his first season at the helm, Brian Gregory’s teams have experienced at least one defection each spring. Outside of Trent Meacham and Norm Plummer, not many were missed.  (Although you could make a convincing case, one that I would agree with, that Desmond Adedeji would have been a constant source of entertainment the likes of which this program is unlikely to ever see).  From a numbers standpoint, the odds dictate that someone will leave at the end of this season. That isn't to say that having players jump ship is necessarily a bad thing. It is simply a systematic result of spreading 200 minutes between athletes who were routinely given an abundance of court time prior to arriving at the U of D.  A Darwinian experiment more or less unfolds each season within the confines of the Donoher Center, only the strong survive.

Which brings us to the matter at hand: which current athlete-student is most likely to pack a bindle and head for parts unknown next season? For those of you who suffer from an incurable case of selective comprehension, please note that I am merely making a case for the most likely candidate.  I am not staunchly forwarding the idea that anyone is leaving the program at the close of business this spring.  Personally, I believe that Gregory has finally found the right mix of players, guys who wholeheartedly buy into his socialist system.  As Swampy mentioned earlier last week on the podcast, future recruits and current players are coming onto campus with eyes wide open.  No one, not even Staten, should anticipate logging 35 minutes a game.  Future players will either buy into what Gregory is selling or they simply won't sign with UD.

That being said, if there's something even remotely wrong with blind, irresponsible speculation I don't want to know about it. Let's quickly eliminate some of the contenders.

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